BOOK BITES | Katie Brent, Jayne Tuttle, Fran Littlewood

This week we feature stories of an influencer serial killer; beheadings in modern day Paris and a perimenopausal woman in a rage walking across London

26 March 2023 - 00:00 By Sue de Groot, Tiah Beautement and JENNIFER PLATT
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by Katie Brent.
How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katie Brent.
Image: Supplied

How to Kill Men and Get Away With It

Katie Brent, HarperCollins

**** (4 stars)

Anyone old enough to not realise that “influencer” is a real career aspired to by many GenZees might find this novel slightly confusing. Stick with it and you’ll get over it. Protagonist Kitty Collins is a full-blown Influencer with a capital I (a necessary item given that narcissism is the main job requirement for influencers). She and her group of friends are a kind of 20-something reincarnation of Sex and the City for the digital age. Oh, and she also gets a kick out of killing people. Not indiscriminately — Kitty is a warrior of gender justice who helps rid the world of men who harm women in the same way as Dexter, Hannibal Lecter and Joe Goldberg (from the series You) attempt to kill only people who deserve it. Except, of course, even the cleverest and most noble-minded serial killers make mistakes. Despite the blood and gore and cringy sexual details (there is plenty of all three), this is a funny, bouncy and exhilarating read that even old fogeys who have never visited Instagram will enjoy immensely. — Sue de Groot

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by Jayne Tuttle.
My Sweet Guillotine by Jayne Tuttle.
Image: Supplied

My Sweet Guillotine 

Jayne Tuttle, Hardie Grant  

**** (4 stars)

Jayne Tuttle, a budding Australian actor, had her career cut short in Paris after her head was almost chopped off by an old-fashion elevator. Mostly recovered, she returns to the city to confront her near-death experience and direct a play she’s written. But things do not go as envisioned. Despite supportive friends and a budding romance, she’s plagued with visions of freak accidents. But things change the day a teen boy’s head is sliced off by another antique Parisian elevator. It motivates her to bring her story forward and be heard. A beautiful and riveting account of recovery and rebuilding. — Tiah Beautement

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by Fran Littlewood.
Amazing Grace Adams by Fran Littlewood.
Image: Supplied

Amazing Grace Adams 

Fran Littlewood, Michael Joseph

**** (4 stars)

Grace is sitting in traffic on one of those unprecedented hot, steamy days in London. She is sweating, itching, nerves jangling, her car has no aircon and the man in the vehicle opposite is leering at her. She’s had enough and decides to leave her car and walk across London to get to her daughter’s 16th birthday party at her ex’s flat. She is unspooling with every step she takes: “Quitely, calmly she has taken the bolt-cutters to social convention. She has set herself free.” Grace is a complicated character whom one loudly cheers as well as quietly berates. It is inspiring to see more women being represented in literature in their forties who are openly discussing perimenopause and menopause. A poignant, funny novel with a satisfying redemptive arc. — Jennifer Platt

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